Suns aim to stay perfect on homestand vs. Rockets

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Phoenix Suns will try to stay perfect on their current homestand Friday night when the Houston Rockets come to U.S. Airways Center.

Phoenix is 4-0 on this stay and has won seven in a row as the host. The Suns will also welcome the Los Angeles Clippers, Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls on this residency.

On Wednesday, the Suns knocked off the Portland Trail Blazers, 118-113. It was Phoenix's fifth consecutive game scoring over 100 points.

Eric Bledsoe scored a career-high 33 points to lead the Suns, who nearly squandered a 25-point lead before holding off the LaMarcus Aldridge-less Blazers.

Isaiah Thomas shot 11-for-16 and contributed 27 points off the bench and Goran Dragic netted 16 for Phoenix, which held homecourt for the seventh straight game. Bledsoe added 10 rebounds and six assists.

P.J. Tucker only scored three points in just under 34 minutes but played a crucial role in the victory, posting 13 rebounds, five assists and four steals.

The Suns led comfortably for most of the game but stumbled in the fourth quarter. A 15-point lead vanished in the frame, and Nicolas Batum's 3-pointer at 4:05 gave Portland its first lead since the opening quarter.

Batum hit a deep 3-ball two minutes later to increase Portland's lead to five when Dragic hit a corner 3 and Bledsoe converted a three-point play to put Phoenix back in front.

Thomas Robinson and Markieff Morris then traded runners and Bledsoe made four free throws in the final 10.9 seconds to secure the win.

"We just kept our composure and finished the game strong," Bledsoe said.

The Rockets have lost two of their last three and Friday's game will be the second in a three-game trek. They'll close it out Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers.

On Wednesday, the Rockets fell victim to the Golden State Warriors, 126-113. Houston was swept in a season series by the Warriors for the first time since the 1973-74 season.

James Harden went for a game-high 33 points in the loss, while Corey Brewer and Jason Terry posted 20 and 14 points off the bench, respectively. No other Houston player scored in double figures, but Joey Dorsey pulled down 12 rebounds and Dwight Howard added 11.

These two teams have a history and a new chapter was written on Wednesday.

Early in the third quarter, Golden State's Steph Curry was whistled for an offensive foul. He already had a technical and, on the way back down the court, Houston's Trevor Ariza bumped into him.

Curry went at Ariza and the two were pulled apart quickly. Ariza was hit with a technical foul and Curry wasn't. Ariza wasn't the only Rockets player with an official as Josh Smith was ejected for arguing in the third quarter.

"They bullied us tonight," said Harden.

The Rockets beat the Suns by five in Houston on Dec. 6 and have won three in a row in this series. The Suns are 7-2 in their previous nine versus the Rockets in Phoenix.